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In Srinagar, Kashmir, life revolves around Dal Lake, and weavers keep the craft of pashmina alive.
This photo story in Srinagar in Kashmir was made in July 2022. Life in the city revolves around Dal Lake, and weavers keep the pashmina craft alive.
Srinagar is the pearl of the Kashmir valley. The city is built around Dal Lake, where thousands of houseboats float. These houseboats date from the colonial era and have now become hotels. To get around, people take a shikara, a small rowing boat.
Day has barely broken over the blue water when vegetable sellers, whose crops grow in floating gardens, come to sell their produce from their boats. The photos show boatmen paddling on the canals, and two men in a shikara in front of a house on stilts.
The shawls are hand-woven in the city’s workshops. The raw wool is first washed and combed, then spun around a metal rod. Next, the weaver makes the shawl on the loom. The shawl is then marked with ink, and an embroiderer decorates it with cotton or silk threads.
Finally, it is washed and ironed before sale. Depending on the size and sophistication of the embroidery, a piece can cost several thousand euros. This photo story lingers on the weavers’ hands and on their large looms.
In Srinagar in Kashmir, Dal Lake is at once a place to live, to trade and to visit. Houseboats, merchants’ boats and weaving workshops tell three sides of the same city. This series continues the story on pashmina herders in Ladakh.
This story is part of Alexander Bee’s documentary photography portfolio. You can also discover Ladakh: the pashmina herders or Burundi: floods and portraits. To buy a print or use a photo, contact me. To learn more: Dal Lake on Wikipedia.
Photos © Alexander Bee – all rights reserved. Prints and licensing: contact me.
